Eastern Bluebird

Most of the country drives during an eastern North American summer will turn up a few Eastern Bluebirds sitting on telephone wires or perched atop a nest box, calling out in a short, wavering voice or abruptly dropping to the ground after an insect. Marvelous birds to capture in your binoculars, male Eastern Bluebirds are a brilliant royal blue on the back and head, and warm red-brown on the breast. Blue tinges in the wings and tail give the grayer females an elegant look.

Typical Voice

Size & Shape

The Eastern Bluebird is a small thrush with a big, rounded head, large eye, plump body, and alert posture. The wings are long, but the tail and legs are fairly short. The bill is short and straight.

Color Pattern

Male Eastern Bluebirds are vivid, deep blue above and rusty or brick-red on the throat and breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and a subdued orange-brown breast.

Behavior

Eastern Bluebirds perch erect on wires, posts, and low branches in open country, scanning the ground for prey. They feed by dropping to the ground onto insects or, in fall and winter, by perching on fruiting trees to gulp down berries. Bluebirds commonly use nest boxes as well as old woodpecker holes.

Habitat

Eastern Bluebirds live in meadows and openings surrounded by trees that offer suitable nest holes. With the proliferation of nest boxes and bluebird trails, bluebirds are now a common sight along roads, field edges, golf courses, and other open areas.

Adult female

Similar Species

Male Western Bluebirds have a fully blue throat and chestnut shoulders. Male Mountain Bluebirds are a lighter sky blue all over, without the reddish underparts. Female bluebirds are harder, but Western and Mountain bluebirds have dark or dusky (not white) chins; and a grayish rather than clear white belly. Western and Mountain bluebirds also lack the reddish sides of the neck of female Eastern Bluebirds. The ranges of Western and Mountain bluebirds overlap only a little with Eastern Bluebirds, mainly in central and west Texas. Male Indigo Buntings are entirely blue and smaller, with the thick beak of a finch.

Backyard Tips

This species doesn't often visit feeders, unless you have feeders that provide mealworms. Find out more about what this bird likes to eat and what feeder is best by using the Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds bird list.

Eastern Bluebirds may be tough to attract to feeders, unless you offer mealworms, but they are a great prospect for nest boxes if you have the space to put one up in your yard, and if your yard isn’t too hemmed in by trees or houses. Consider putting up a nest box to attract a breeding pair. Make sure you put it up well before breeding season. Attach a guard to keep predators from raiding eggs and young. Find out more about nest boxes on our Attract Birds pages. You'll find plans for building a nest box of the appropriate size on our All About Birdhouses site.

Find This Bird

You can find Eastern Bluebirds in open country with patchy vegetation and large trees or nest boxes. Meadows, old fields, and golf courses are good places. Bluebirds typically sit in the open on power lines or along fences, with an alert, vertical posture. When they drop to the ground after an insect, they make a show of it, with fluttering wings and a fairly slow approach, followed by a quick return to the perch.

Get Involved

Set up a nest box for bluebirds and report nesting activity to NestWatch

View and sort images of nesting bluebirds online with CamClickr to help scientists archive data from our NestCams